You've Never Let Me Finish
by Working-On-Sanity
Summary: "You're honest with your feelings," Naruto said sarcastically. "That's why I love yo-" Sasuke interrupted with a snappish "Shut up!" The other glared at him curiously. "How come you've never let me finish saying it? You're afraid of it...afraid of love."


**A/N:** _Ohayo! I haven't died yet- actually, I don't think it's been more than a week since I last updated anything. But, once again, I thought of this while in church, hence the non-shounen-ai. I try to restrain from such in service... Anyway, this is an Alternate Universe, with the boys in the ever-cliche Ko'no'ha College! I honestly couldn't think of anything more original *sob*_

_This one-shot is mostly emotion-centric. Sasuke's thoughts are mine, mostly. I'm a very shy person who prefers to keep to herself, and I am afraid to get close to people, as I have had many "friends" turn on me. Naruto is a mix of my grandmother and mother, who both try to encourage me to open up and come out of my shell, so to speak. (Yes, I need counseling.)_

Naruto's smile was a pleasant thing to look at. White and perfect, but it was never fake; the boy wouldn't ever meet people with a fake smile. He either smiled or he didn't, always completely honest and unafraid to let others know exactly what he was feeling inside. Even if he didn't know himself what he felt, he was always able to convey his emotions so others could understand.

Sasuke's smile was, possibly, even more beautiful than Naruto's, simply because he saved it for the most joyful emotional situations. Sitting alone, the only expression he ever showed to others was a slight dulling of his eyes in a mixture of timidity and awkwardness. If not for his eyes, no one would ever know what he was feeling, as his eyes betrayed every emotion he felt. He wasn't able to stop the glint that sparkled in the obsidian orbs whenever he became excited, or the tears that came when he was miserable. Everywhere else, he appeared to be all-too-sure of himself, always in control of the situation, mysterious to some, 'stick-up-his-behind' to the ones who were jealous of all the attention he received. But inside, cleverly hidden, was a mountain of different emotions: fear, worry, happiness, love- all jumbled up, disguised for so long beneath Sasuke's expressionless facial mask that he didn't know one emotion from another.

The differences between them were so many that people often mused over the fact of why they were friends at all. "Opposites attract", some say, and maybe that was what came in order between them. Sasuke and Naruto were closer than brothers, it was plain to see that. They fought, physically and verbally, quite often. It was more arguing than the discreet acts of kindness toward each other, but through it all, anyone could see that the loud insults and demeaning revelations- 'blackmail' in other words- they shared something that not many people can figure out.

(Ko'no'ha College: Art Class)

The rows of easels were arranged in a fan-shape, reminding Naruto of the paper fans one of his acquaintances, Sabuku Temari, enjoyed collecting. On the foot-high platform at the front of the large room, a small table was situated slightly off-balance, the stereotypical bowl of apples, peaches, and bananas laying neatly on the top of it.

Peering through his thick round glasses at the fruit, Naruto gazed at his canvas to compare. He often told himself that if it weren't for paper and acrylics, he would have never been able to live through his nineteen years, and you could tell it in his work. His paintings were never done sloppily, carelessly, or halfway, but always to the best of his abilities. At his young age, he had already won countless awards for his artwork, but it never changed his attitude. He was just as open as usual, gladly taking others advice and finding ways to improve what he did.

Glancing from his painting back to the platform, he quickly pushed his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose to get a clearer view. Spying a highlight on a side-turned green apple he had overlooked, he slid his brush through the grey acrylic and carefully filled the area in. He stepped back, knowing that pictures often seemed different from farther away, and stopped in his tracks as he bumped into something hard.

"Sorry," he automatically whispered, turning his head to see what he had backed into.

A young man stood behind an easel, staring at Naruto with pretty jade eyes, which were lined with several coats of eyeliner; he used the makeup to hide the purple bags beneath his eyes. His sandy-red hair was tousled and rumpled, like his outfit, which consisted of a burgundy T-shirt and black denim jeans. It looked as though Sabuku Gaara had been awake all night, and he most likely had been. Naruto knew, from Temari, Gaara's sister, that he had been battling severe insomnia ever since the loss of their parents, who had died by drowning at a beach somewhere.

"It's okay," Gaara finally replied in answer to Naruto's apology. His voice was soft, but had a rough edge to it, like a chibi who had a sore throat.

The blonde nodded, turning back to his own painting. He hoped to finish it- the class had been working on the composition for three days now, and he only had twenty minutes left before it was time to retire to his house. He lived a mere ten miles from the college, and he was always grateful that he didn't have to live in a dormitory.

At that thought, he was reminded that his best friend had to live in one- sharing it with Aburame Shino. Naruto winced, the image of Shino and Uchiha Sasuke each sitting on their bed, a book or a sketchpad in hand, completely silent._ Who would want to live with someone who doesn't speak but four words a day? _he wondered as he brushed more sienna paint over the gold-colored banana he had painted earlier. _But, _he remembered, _Sasuke doesn't talk much, either. They should be alright, though- but by the time we finish college, Sasuke may have forgotten how to talk! _

He glanced affectionately at the slender teenager, who was staring at his own canvas intently. One slanted eye was closed tightly, his pink tongue peeking from between plump red lips as he opened a tube of paint, careful not to get any of the purple smeared on his fingers. Though it wouldn't have mattered- the slim digits were already coated in many different shades of blue, yellow, brown and black.

_He could pass this session by showing Umino-sensei his fingers, _the blonde snickered silently. _Sasuke is kind of clumsy. _He inspected his own tanned fingers, which sported only a few smudges of paint.

"Alright, we have about fifteen minutes before the end of class. I'd like to use that time to go over the few techniques that we 'brushed up on', pardon the pun, this month." Umino Iruka-sensei stepped up on the low platform, holding a few charts in his hands. A cheerful smile brightened his tanned face, and Naruto was once again glad that he had gotten such a perky, kind, and helpful sensei. There were rumors of a Hatake-sensei, who was rough in his ways- no one wanted to be in his class, but when the years of art training was over, the best artists were the ones who learned from his tutoring.

_Maybe after class, I'll see if I can talk to Hyuga-san. He would probably know about Hatake-sensei... I'd like to see some of his work, if it's that great. _The blonde watched the young man, who was standing still, his lavender contacts catching the sunlight and sparkling. His long brunet hair was pulled back in a loose tail that hung down his back, tied by a leather band nearly at the end of his dark locks. He turned to glance at Naruto, unexpectedly, and the blonde whipped back around to face Umino-sensei, pretending he had been doing so the entire time. Hyuga Neji hated to be watched, especially by ones he considered rivals in the arts.

The rest of class passed slowly, everyone listening attentively to Umino-sensei. Although he tried to pay attention along with the others, Naruto found his mind wandering, and stood in a trance even after Umino-sensei announced the session to be over.

"Ohayo, Naruto." The pleasant, rich voice brought him from his thoughts, making him blink in surprise before he grinned. He turned on his heel, throwing his arms around the taller boy and squeezing. Sasuke choked a bit from the overenthusiastic greeting, but anyone who was close to Naruto knew from expercience that he was of the 'touchy-feely' type. He needed to touch things, call it an obsession or not, but it didn't faze the black-haired teenager who was currently in his arms.

"Ohayo, Sasuke!" The blonde's blue eyes sparkled mischievously as he drew back from the hug, a smirk raising the edges of his lips. "Guess who's coming to my house this evening to do homework?" He pushed up his glasses as he watched Sasuke shrug carelessly.

"I don't know. Me?" he guessed. Naruto nodded as he began to pack up his paints, tucking them in a color-coordinated row into his briefcase. He called it a 'super art-utensil carrying device', but it was a briefcase nonetheless.

"I didn't catch the entire assignment, but I did hear that we had to work in pairs to do portraits. And guess who's going to model?" He smirked again as he picked up the leather briefcase, making his way out of the room with Sasuke following close behind.

"You are," the raven said, with a definite air of finality. "I've modeled four out of every five portraits that you paint, and I'm not going to sit down for another five hours straight. I can paint, too, you know."

(Naruto's apartment)

Sasuke sighed, blowing a few strands of his silken almond ink-like hair awry, earning a loud, "No!" from Naruto. His foot was itching, and he was grateful, at least, that the portrait was only from the chest up. He kicked lightly, but it only made the itch worse.

"How are you always able to convince me to do this?" he asked tonelessly, discreetly lowering his hand to ease the itch.

"Stop moving." Naruto didn't even look up, focused on his brushstrokes as he painted in the nearly-white highlights in Sasuke's glossy, spiked hair. He smiled, and finally looked up, cornflower-blue, round eyes meeting narrow shoe polish-black.

"You wan'na know how I can convince you?" he repeated. "I don't prod you into doing anything, not really. I don't 'convince' you. You just do these things for me because you want to. You don't want to see me disappointed- you always try to make sure that I'm happy," he said softly. Sasuke blinked in shock, but quickly recovered.

"Hn," he snorted, blowing more hair out of place. "Think what you want, but I only do it to shut you up." He felt a pang of guilt when he saw the hurt look flash into Naruto's eyes.

"You don't like people to admit you're sweet, do you?" the blonde asked seriously. He swiped his brush through the small puddle of blue paint that was smeared across his palette, and concentrated on dabbing the lightest touches of blue into the portrait's gel-spiked mop of black hair. Whenever the light hit Sasuke's hair right, you could see small areas of blue and turquoise.

"No," Sasuke protested, "I don't care what people think. I don't care if they think I'm sweet or if I'm a monster. As long as they keep it to themselves." With that said, he would have given a self-righteous nod, but if he did, Naruto would fuss at him to keep still. So he just sat on the stool, squinting in the light that Naruto had set up. Sasuke knew that proper lighting made the shadows and highlights definite, but he didn't need to be blinded by it.

"You know what?" Naruto murmured absent-mindedly. "I'm glad that not everyone keeps things to themselves. If we did, we would all blow up from the inside out from bottled-up emotions."

Sasuke stopped another snort of disgust- Naruto's opinion was the only one he even _thought_ about respecting, so he kept silent.

"Gran'ma told you that, didn't she?" he guessed. Naruto nodded in conformation. Tsunade, whom both Sasuke and Naruto referred to affectionately as 'Gran'ma' was a doctor, but she came up with theories to get them to behave; much the way a mother would tell her child to stop making faces, or the expression would get stuck like that.

"But it is true. That's why I worry about you." The blonde didn't look up, but he could hear Sasuke shift on the stool.

"Naruto," he began in a mockingly laughter-shaken tone, "you know people don't literally 'blow up' from compressed emotions, right?"

Naruto gave him a disapproving glare. "Of course I do, Sasuke-dummy!" He crossed his eyes behind his glasses and stuck out his tongue, which looked very comical, his backwards-facing baseball cap adding to the hilarity.

"Now hold still, okay? I'm almost finished with your hair." Naruto closed one eye as he squinted the other, holding up his thumb as if to measure something. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"You've been a very good model, as always," he continued, ignoring the raven's gesture. "That's pretty much why I ask you to do it for me- no one else would sit alone in a room with me for five hours." Naruto smiled self-consciously as he scratched at his cheek, always hesitant to say anything demeaning about his friends. Sasuke was actually the only one he felt comfortable with insulting- Sasuke was pretty much the only person he felt entirely comfortable with, period.

"And even I felt slow to to agree," Sasuke said in an expressionless tone. Naruto could easily tell that he was teasing.

"You're so honest with your feelings, Sasuke!" the blonde said sarcastically. "That's probably why I lov-"

"Shut up!" Sasuke spat. "Don't say it." He looked down awkwardly, staring at his bare feet. He felt Naruto's eyes on him, and he knew what question was about to be asked. He didn't know how many times they went through that routine: Naruto would begin to say the phrase, 'I love you', and Sasuke would snap at him to 'shut up'. Naruto would ask why, and Sasuke would change the subject.

But after so many times of the same words being spoken, it was finally going to take a new direction.

Naruto was silent for a long time, and the Uchiha was almost certain he had forgotten about answering him. But as soon as they made eye-contact, Naruto frowned, the blue orbs shining with child-like innocence.

"Sasuke? Why is it that you've never let me finish before?" he asked, his voice unusually quiet. Sasuke said the words along with him, inwardly, and sighed through his nose deeply.

"Is it just me, or is it a little-" Sasuke couldn't finish his attempt at changing the subject, Naruto standing up abruptly and marching up to him.

"Uchiha Sasuke, whenever I ask you that simple question, you never answer. You interrupt whenever I start to say... that, and then you never even let me ask you why!" Sasuke swallowed hard, crumbling on the inside, but on the outside, he was cleverly hiding his anxiety behind that emotionless mask. Instead of calming Naruto, though, it only made him more upset.

"Sasuke." Naruto knelt, eye-level with the raven, who was still sitting down. Gently, he touched Sasuke's warm cheek, startling him by the contact.

"Do you know what I see when I say it?" he whispered. The dark-haired teenager shook his head slightly, not looking into Naruto's face. He kept his gaze on the floor, intently counting the lintballs that littered the burgandy carpet.

"When I look in your eyes," he continued, carefully tilting Sasuke's head upwards, to stare into the large black pupils, "I see fear. You're afraid of me saying it. You're afraid for anyone to say it, no matter if it's directed to you or someone else. You don't want the responsibility of holding a part of someone's heart, do you."

It wasn't a question- it was a confident statement.

"What are you talking about? You honestly don't have a clue about emotions- you thought Akamaru wanted to play because he was growling at you! What makes you think you know-"

He was interrupted again, by Naruto's hand pressing against his lips, tightly covering his mouth so he couldn't speak. The rest of his sentence came out sounding garbled and muffled. Sasuke glared at the blonde, but Naruto didn't remove his hand.

"Sasuke- I love you," he said in a soft voice. He watched Sasuke's eyes widen, him being unable to say anything. He closed his eyes tightly, as if the motion would block out the words, but it was too late- Naruto tender whisper ricocheted around in his mind-

"_I love you, I love you, I love you..._"

In one move, he slapped Naruto's cheek, jerking back at the same time. He didn't open his eyes, keeping them tightly shut, as he stood from his seat, ready to walk away. Naruto grabbed his arm, holding his wrist in his strong grip, keeping him from moving away.

"Sasuke," he said in a pleading voice, "please don't leave me, just because I love you. You don't need to be scared of it..." He winced as the slightly taller boy turned to him suddenly, long bangs swinging against his smooth white cheeks.

"Why are you telling me that?" He stiffened as Naruto wrapped his arms around his waist, hugging him innocently.

"Because you are scared. I saw you yesterday...after Lee took Sakura-chan out on that last date...you heard her telling Umino-sensei that Lee had told her that he 'loved' her. And that face that you made- it looked like you were so mad, but afraid too."

Sasuke flushed lightly, not recalling that Naruto had been around at that moment when Sakura had revealed the information. He pried the other boy's arms from his middle, causing him to only cling tighter.

"Look, Naruto- I've known Sakura for a long time. She's not a close friend, but I'd hate to see her get hurt by someone as trifle as Lee. Anything could happen- he could really hurt her once she trusts him enough." He snagged his bottom lip with his teeth, wishing he hadn't said that. Naruto could and probably would tease him forever about 'caring' about Sakura. Shoot, being Naruto, he would probably try to hook them up as a prank.

But to his surprise, there was no laughter. Naruto looked into his narrow eyes earnestly, as if searching for something, no hint of amusement at all marking his features.

_You don't trust anyone, do you, Sasuke? Do you even trust me? _He wanted to say the words, but they seemed to be caught at the back of his throat, something keeping him from saying them.

"...Trust me."

Naruto mouthed the words, not making any sound but a breathy noise. Sasuke narrowed his eyes further, slender black brows furrowing in an expression of contempt.

"Trust me," Naruto repeated, gripping the soft material of Sasuke's shirt.

"I do trust you, you know that. Best friends aren't afraid that the other will stalk them with a gun and knife," he muttered. Even though he treated Naruto coldly at times, he said 'best friend' like it didn't bother him at all- he said it in a gentle way, an easy rolling of his tongue that proved he valued his only true friendship.

"I don't mean it like that," Naruto said in a biting tone, as if he had expected Sasuke to understand the first time. "I mean, trust me with _everything._ Your heart. You hate to have people grow too close to you, but you hate it even more when you, in turn, grow close to them. You're... afraid."

"Stop it," Sasuke hissed through clenched teeth. "Stop saying that I'm afraid! I'm not a coward- if anyone is, it's you! I'm not like you, I don't need a pack of friends to crawl to whenever something goes wrong. I'm man enough to keep it to myself and not bother other people with my problems." He felt a soft pang of guilt fan throughout his chest as a hurt look flashed through Naruto's eyes.

"'Man enough'? That's not being a 'man', Sasuke, that isn't being strong! Being an introvert who never speaks to anyone, that isn't being tough. It's being babyish, actually- it shows that you don't give a whoop about who wants to be your friend, you just want to be alone. I can honestly tell you that I don't have a clue whatsoever about what you think of when you sit alone, but whatever it is, I'm sure it isn't kittens and flowers. It's pathetic- you can't have fun with a bunch of friends, you have to squeeze yourself into a dark corner and dwell on every little thing that has went wrong- 'Oh, I bent the loose thread that was hanging from my collar'- 'my fly was open and the mirror saw'- you exaggerate these little things until you're practically about to commit suicide from the depression!"

The raven pursed his plump, saliva-moistened lips, his mind registering the quick rush of words that had burst from Naruto's mouth.

_You don't love me... You're a liar. _

_Mother loved me. Daddy loved me. _

_Itachi-niisan loved me._

_You can see who I'm left with now._

_They all left. Itachi-niisan promised me that he would always be there for me. He's gone, too- he's not here for me._

_They were all idiots._

"It doesn't matter what I think about, Naruto," Sasuke said in a smooth, too-sweet voice. "Because you'll go crying to your buddies and tell them all about it. I mean it," he said in a roughened voice, "stop crying. If you keep on crying, I swear that I will give you a _real_ reason to cry."

"Sasuke- I'm sorry." The blonde never once loosened his grip on Sasuke's slim waist- he clung tightly, his cheek pressing against the other's flat chest, spectacles askew. "I'm sorry if you deny it. I'm sorry if you hate me for saying it. I'm sorry if it makes you upset. But I love you. And I'll say it until it goes through your thick head and _doesn't _come out your ears, nose, or behind- I love you more than anyone, Uchiha Sasuke. I love you."

Sasuke swallowed hard. He wasn't panicking, he tried to convince himself. But he was- he never wanted to hear those words, especially from his best friend. What did he mean by 'love'? Surely he didn't mean it in a _wrong _way. But what if he did? What if he expected him to love him back in the same way? What if he wanted to do something to him that he never wanted and never would?

"I'm not going to be your little _toy_, if that's what you're thinking." The teenager said the words in a gruff tone, like a mother who had already bought candy for her child, and yet the chibi keeps begging her to purchase some more.

"I have modesty, Uzumaki," he continued, "and pride, as well. I won't do things with you- I'm not going to...to," he searched for an appropriate word, "_defile_ myself for your pleasure. I have more sense than to let you-"

Naruto's eyes filled with tears once more, and he quickly shut them. When he looked up, they were crystalline pools of glimmering cerulean, clear liquid sticking in small droplets to his lashes. His previously flushed face was growing rosier from crying.

"Is that what you think?" There was a sharp look in those eyes, but it softened as he glanced up into Sasuke's scowling face.

"You think that's what I want? That I want you in t-that way? I wouldn't ever, not _ever_, make you suffer and do something sinful for me. I wouldn't want you to be hurt," he said shyly. The air in the room seemed to be growing stale, smelling of dust and ramen broth, and Sasuke blamed the quick blurring of his vision on the sensation of suffocation.

"You...really care..._that_ m-much?" He swallowed hard, willing the tears to leave his eyes. He wasn't crying, not for something so petty.

_It isn't petty, _a small voice said in his mind. He recognized it as his 'Inner Sasuke', as he had dubbed his conscience. Not that he would tell anyone that.

"Obviously I care!" Naruto said loudly. "Even though I say things to you, you can egg it on by acting so indifferent, you know. But I know that you really do have a soft, gentle side to you. And you know what? Besides your parents, I'm the only one who's ever gotten the chance to see it."

"Yes..." Sasuke looked down, the bridge of his nose crinkling as his face contorted to keep from crying, yelling, or maybe both.

His mind was still replaying Naruto's words, his innocent, child-like expression: "_I love you_."

What did that _really _mean?

**A/N: **_Ten thirty-three! I was like, supposed to be in bed an hour ago- school tomorrow, blegh. But anyway, a few things (yeah right 'a few')_

_1. You might have noticed that Naruto uses the phrases, "you know," "I know" quite frequently, I guess. Although his catchphrase "dattebayo" really has no literal meaning, it can be taken as saying "you know". I got that off of Wiki ^^_

_2. Inner Sasuke- everyone has a conscience which they name. Sasuke named his 'Inner Sasuke' in obvious reference to 'Inner Sakura'._

_3. I did slip a dab of LeeXSaku in there, yosh._

_4. This was mostly a sketch, writing wise, and I wasn't originally going to post it. But I haven't posted anything in a while, so I went ahead and I did. (I came, I saw, I kicked booty.) My main goal was to interpret emotions through the keypad, per say. I'll obviously have to work on that some more, but I guess I'm satisfied with the first half of this. I hate the last part, and I'll probably change it._

_5. And FINALLY, I know it like, drops off at the end, but I had no idea how to end it. If I get decent reviews and such, I might (if I have time- I'm working on three-four other stories) make this into a multi-chapter. I don't know... *yawns after eating one of those energy bars that I wasn't supposed to have*_

_As always, review please? Chibi Naruto will glomp you with glee if you do! (Actually, I doubt that he would. Fine, chibi Gai-sensei will glomp you!)_

_*People run away screaming in dread*  
_


End file.
